How Long is She Going to Be Like This?
by L'il Senzu
Summary: Carol takes a tumble down the stairs and Glenn accidentally gives her the wrong meds. The result is a little uncomfortable for her appointed babysitter, Daryl. Rather silly and a little sweet. No smut. Rated for swearing. Takes place after Woodsbury before sickness. Its a bit of a random fic but I thought the idea was cute. No estab. Caryl. Please RR


'sup. This is my first entry into the Walking Dead genre. Its also my first posted fic in three years... so be gentle, people, please be gentle. Hahaha just playing, I don't get offended at concrit, just flames that have nothing to do with my writing. Like, if you dislike my pairing or something.

But anyways...I was partially inspired by a chapter in hopelesslydevoted2svu's Games, which I highly recommend. I liked the idea of the drugging and, although I loved what they did with it, I found it taking me into a direction. But thank you to hopelesslydevoted2svu for getting me started.

But moving on, I have personally experimented with percocet and vicodin and neither have quite the effect I'm describing but I've heard of similar reactions to hardcore pain meds...and I left it purposefully unnamed so no one could call me on medical inaccuracies because I'm a dirty cheater, that's why lol. Honestly, I based parts of her behavior on experience I've had and been witness to with weed. Just give me some creative license here lol

This fic is mostly rather silly but it has a couple hurty touches and I'm not quite sure if I'm 100% happy with the end but its all I have right now. Carol is obviously going to be rather OOC throughout but lemme know how I did on Daryl. I really tried to stay true to his character as much as I possibly could. The timeline is unnamed but its sometime after Woodbury and before the sickness. I haven't seen the old seasons in a while so let me know if I make any mistakes due to my bad memory.

This fic is not officially Caryl. There are hints at something more but its officially a friendship with nothing but potential for more. Also, I don't write accents because it always seems forced and doesn't seem real when I try. You know how Daryl talks. Rated for lots of cussing.

Anyways, enjoy and please review!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Walking Dead. If I did, Carol would have been in the damn season finale and there never would have been any creepy Deth vibes (I know the accepted nickname is Bethyl, but to me, its Deth).

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"Is she okay?" Daryl demanded as he bounded up the stairs.

Rick appeared outside of the cell, looking anxious. "She's fine, brother. She's fine…but…"

Daryl reached him and resisted the urge to shove him out of the way. "But what?" he growled.

"She's…not herself." Rick said slowly.

Daryl's eyebrows furrowed. "What happened? Maggie said she fell down the stairs."

Rick sighed. "She did. And she was fine. She just twisted her ankle up pretty good. Glenn got into the store of meds we picked up from that house last week… he should have had Hershel look at the pills first but he didn't. Someone had written on one of the bottles that it was pain medication so he gave her two… It wasn't exactly the appropriate meds for this…" he chuckled nervously.

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean? She OD or some shit? She gonna be okay?"

Rick shook his head but he was smiling. "Yeah, yeah she's gonna be just fine. Hershel's in with her now. She's just higher than a kite at the moment."

Daryl stared at him in disbelief. "Carol…high? Oh Jesus fucking Christ."

Rick continued to shake his head as he clapped his hand on the redneck's shoulder. "You should just see for yourself. She's been asking for ya."

With that he led Daryl into the cell. Carol was lying on the cot, covered up in a blanket and starring at the ceiling as she hummed some unknown tune to herself. Hershel was sitting on a stool next to her, checking her pulse on her wrist against his gold pocket watch before nodding to himself and releasing her wrist. She looked over then and instantly sat up when she saw Daryl come into the room. He hesitated as she stared at him with too-wide eyes, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Hi Daryl." She said cheerfully.

He nodded at her, walking closer. "Hi Carol."

She giggled then, looking up at him with an impish smile as if she knew something very funny but wasn't supposed to tell. "Hi Daryl." She said again.

He frowned. "Uh…hi Carol?" She giggled again, drawing her hands up to her mouth.

Hershel sighed softly. "What are you finding so funny, Carol?" he asked gently.

She shook her head, giggling again before she said, "Daryl, Carol. Daryl, Carol! It's so funny!" And then she was laughing louder, her shoulders shaking with mirth.

Daryl's eyes widened and he turned to Hershel with a startled expression. "How long she gonna be like this?"

Rick laughed softly behind him.

Hershel sighed again. "At least a couple hours…but she's awfully thin, it could easily be four or five. It just depends on how her body reacts to the medication."

Daryl stifled a groan. 'Well, wasn't this just fucking _fantastic_?' He turned back to Carol who was now starring around at them accusingly.

"Doesn't anyone else find it funny?" she demanded before she giggled again, muttering "Daryl, Carol." to herself.

"What exactly is so funny about our names?" Daryl asked roughly.

She started giggling again before she took a breath and visibly calmed herself. "Don't you get it? Daryl, Carol! Our names rhyme! Isn't that hilarious? They **rhyme**!" She exclaimed before she burst out into loud laughter again.

Daryl continued to stare at her, bewildered, before he started backing away slightly. "Okay, well seeing as she's gone off the fucking deep end, I think I'll let her sleep it off."

She sat up straighter at his words, her laughter dying. "No! No, no! Don't leave, Daryl. I'm sorry! I'll stop!" she said quickly, looking down as if embarrassed at herself.

He felt a bit of guilt then, poor woman couldn't help it probably.

"I don't know what's up with me." She said softly. "Its just…so funny to me…right now… I mean, didn't you ever notice? Did you ever notice our names rhymed? Isn't that weird? No one else's names rhyme." She was rambling but a smile stayed on her lips and in her eyes.

Daryl shrugged. "Can't say I ever noticed."

"Its weird. It has to mean _something_." She said in a very serious tone, nodding sagely at him.

He quirked a small smile then. "If you say so, woman."

She nodded again, "I do!" Then she started off into another giggling fit and he felt the urge to bolt again.

She must have sensed it because she quickly took a breath and, with noticeable effort, stopped. "Okay, okay, okay. I'll stop!" She said, putting her head down. Then she looked up at him through her bangs and smirked, "Daryl, Carol." She whispered, giggling shortly before she steeled herself and stopped again. "Okay, I'm done now." She sounded like a chastised child then.

Rick was laughing again and Hershel just shook his head with a smile. He stood then. "Well, there's not much else to be done. Her vitals are just fine, considering the dose and I wrapped her ankle. Only thing we can do is let her come down from it."

Carol was staring at him in confusion. "What happened to my ankle?" she asked.

"You fell down the damn stairs, klutz." Daryl growled at her.

Her eyes widened. "Oh yeah! I forgot because it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm feeling no pain whatsoever. But Daryl, it was incredible! It was like, 'whoa!' and then I slipped and the ground came out from under me and I was completely weightless for like a second and then **bam!** I smashed into the stairs and then I was flipping" she wheeled her hands around each other to demonstrate "and everything was up and down and I was whirling and then suddenly, boom!" she smacked her hands together "and I was just laying there like, 'What happened?' and then my ankle hurt. A lot. But it doesn't anymore, I feel no pain at all!" She said proudly before giggling to herself. "I like this stuff."

Daryl grunted, "Well, enjoy it now because I'm tossing the rest of this shit before anyone else decides to have giggle fits."

Rick stepped in, "Now, now, no need for that. A pain narcotic this strong could come in handy someday, we'll just have to leave Hershel in charge of it."

Daryl nodded stiffly, remembering Glenn had brought this on her. 'Dumbass, doling out meds like he's the fucking doctor. Maybe he'll learn to be more careful if he somehow lost his precious condoms…'

Hershel left then and Rick went to follow him when Daryl stopped him. "Hey, you seriously going to leave me alone with her?" he demanded incredulously.

Rick grinned at him. "Don't worry, Daryl. Its not like she's dangerous and she's gonna be fine. She just needs company. Besides, she wants you here." Daryl looked over at her for confirmation on that and she nodded at him, grinning like an idiot before giggling slightly. Rick laughed at his face. "You'll be fine. I'll send Beth up to take over for you in a bit." With that he walked out.

Daryl stared at his charge who was now giving him her full attention and patting the stool Hershel had vacated. He sighed before going over and sitting down.

"Don't worry. I'll behave." She said with a mischievous smile. "I think I'm coming to my senses now, Daryl…..Carol." she giggled softly. He glared at her and she shut up. "Sorry. I'm trying! Really, I am. But its so funny." She laughed again and he grunted.

"Let's talk about something else."

She smiled. "Okay…hey I got an idea!" she exclaimed suddenly. Then she started getting out of bed and he pushed her back down, startled.

"Whoa, don't be doing that, woman! You're hurt."

She snorted. "I don't feel hurt. I feel _good_." She paused. "And hot. Its really hot in here. Aren't you hot?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Not really."

She grabbed her blanket then and roughly shoved it off her and onto the floor. "That's better."

Daryl made a noncommittal sound in response. "So what was your idea?"

She frowned at him "What idea?"

He groaned. "Never-mind."

She pulled herself up to sit cross-legged on the cot slightly awkwardly, pulling her wrapped ankle on top so she could toy with the bandaging.

"Stop that." He said sternly. She pouted slightly and Daryl shifted uncomfortably at the sight.

"Hey Daryl, what do you miss most about life before?" she asked him suddenly.

He made a face and shrugged. "Wasn't much to miss."

She scoffed at him. "That's crazy. I miss lots of stuff…" she paused slightly, a sad look appearing in her eyes and he suddenly realized how badly this talk could go. Especially with her drugged up, he wasn't sure if she could control her emotions so he said the first thing he could think of to get her mind off of _her._

"I miss bacon."

She grinned at him then, giggling softly. "Me too! Bacon was the _best_. And ice cream." She sighed then. "I really miss ice cream, and maraschino cherries. I could eat a whole jar of those. And and…and I miss big soft pillows and thick comforters and air conditioning and book stores and libraries and owning more than three pairs of underwear and hot water and-and-and…musicals." She finished her ramble, looking slightly out of breath and Daryl was staring at her like he couldn't believe she'd managed to say that all so quickly.

Then he snorted and laughed a little. "Musicals and cherries? Out of all the things in the whole fucking world, you miss musicals and cherries?"

She stopped for a moment and stared at him, her eyes suddenly getting shiny. "I miss Sophia." She said softly.

He shut his eyes, inwardly scolding himself. "I know. Hey, you know what else I miss? Cigarettes. I can hardly ever find any on my runs." He changed the subject.

She laughed then. "Oh you're such a big tough man, smoking your ciggies. I bet you smoked Marlboro Reds, too." She laughed again and began toying with her shirt.

He huffed at her. "As a matter of fact, I did. Merle liked Winstons but I always liked my cowboy killers. You ever smoke?"

She giggled and nodded. "Mhm. I started when I was sixteen. I thought it made me look sexy and dangerous and when you're a slightly awkward book-nerd, you like looking sexy and dangerous." She looked seriously at him as if she were confiding a huge secret and then she giggled again, leaning back as she began trying to pull her shirt up.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Daryl exclaimed as his eyes shot to the pale couple of inches of her stomach she had revealed by the move. "What the fuck you think you're doing?"

She pouted at him, fanning herself. "Its so hot, Daryl! I just wanna take off my shirt so I can cool down."

His eyes widened. "Its really not that hot, you're just sweaty from the meds. So stop." He said firmly. As she pouted again, warmth pooled down below and he grimaced uncomfortably. "Stop pouting at me like a damn five year old."

She laughed then and reaching, under her tee, grabbed a bit of fabric and pulled it down, revealing that she was wearing a tank top underneath. "See? It's fine." She then started pulling out of her t-shirt, her tank riding up in the process and Daryl was too mesmerized by the pale expanse of skin to stop her. His breath hitched slightly as the very bottom ridge of her black bra was revealed right before the t-shirt came free and her tank slid back down. Her hand tugged it the rest of the way absently. She sighed with a big grin, leaning back slightly.

"Much better." She began to space then, starring up at the ceiling with her head cocked slightly to the side, humming the same unknown song. He sat awkwardly for a moment and then cleared his throat, her gaze shooting back down at him as if she suddenly remembered he was still there.

"After sex." She said suddenly and then she started giggling at her words, the giggles transforming into full on hysterical laughter at the stunned expression on Daryl's face. She caught her breath after a moment, still giggling every few seconds, holding her sides.

"Cigarettes." She said, as if that explained everything. He had no clue what to say to this particular topic of conversation and so simply glanced around the room nervously.

She laughed again. "I liked smoking after sex." She clarified. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "But only when it was good. I quit smoking when I got pregnant and I never really started back up again but every now and then I'd have one. When I drank and after good sex…and sometimes when I was really stressed out. After a few years, I was never allowed to drink and there just wasn't anymore good sex…but I was plenty stressed out…but I only ever did it when Sofia was at school. I didn't like smoking in front of her." She paused again, thoughtfully, and Daryl was worried she was going to try to start crying again.

He was about to change the subject when she squared a very serious look at him. "How many women have you been with?"

He nearly choked on air and startled back. "What?"

She giggled then, hiding her mouth behind her hands and looking up at him through her hair again and he had to look away.

"How. Many. Women. Have. You. Been. With?" she asked, speaking slowly. "Like, as in sex. No blow jobs, those don't count."

He snorted in disbelief. "Enough."

She started laughing again, loud and long and didn't stop for a good moment. Then she got very quiet and looked at him severely. "It's the strangest thing, Daryl. I start laughing and then I start thinking, 'who the hell is laughing so much?' then I realize that its **me**! Isn't that trippy?" she giggled again.

She was quiet for a moment then stated proudly, "Two!"

He frowned at her in confusion. "Two what?"

She grinned. "Two guys. I've been with two guys. The bastard, of course, and Scott Hayes. He was my high school sweetie and I thought I was gonna marry him but he moved away senior year and I ended up dating the jackass soon after. So I told you, its your turn. How many?" she was getting demanding now and starring at him expectantly.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he realized that he wasn't going to be able to avoid answering. "Six."

Her eyes widened. "Really? Six?"

He felt offended for some reason and growled at her. "It ain't _that_ many. Fuck, Merle probably hit over a hundred. He always was a whore."

Carol nodded as if she knew and smiled widely at him. "Who were they? What were their names? Who was your favorite?" She probably would have continued to ramble off questions at him but he put a hand up to silence her.

"My favorite? Fuck woman, I don't know. They were all just random fucks, really. Most of them were one nighters. The other two were Christa and Bobbi. Christa drove me fucking nuts. That one wasn't anything more than us using each other for a couple years cause it was convenient and that was fine because she was the most annoying woman. Bobbi though, she was pretty alright. Never hassled me about nothing and I could talk to her outside of sex, ya know? But we were mostly kinda friends, only had sex a couple times and mainly just cause we were bored and drunk or high. She ended up fucking Merle and that was enough to churn my stomach so that was that." He shrugged, a little surprised he'd said so much.

"I always liked boy names that were girl names." She said randomly.

He laughed softly, shaking his head.

"What? I think it's cute." She was silent for a second before, "Sophia wasn't my first choice. Wanted to name her Codi. But Ed said he wasn't raising no lesbo so I had to choose a girlier name."

Daryl looked at her and smiled gently. "Well, you picked a good one. Sophia's pretty."

She giggled softly and began toying with the hem of her tank , pulling it out and back.

Daryl inwardly groaned. "Don't even think about it." He warned.

She grumbled. "Its so hot, though! What do you care? Its my body." She plucked at the bottom and tried pulling it up and he suddenly reached out, grabbing her wrist and keeping her from taking her shirt off.

"Don't." he bit out.

She grinned impishly at him and giggled.

"Make me." She said childishly, moving her other hand to the button on her pants.

His eyebrows shot into his hairline and he seized her other hand to stop her. She struggled against him for a moment before deflating.

"Let me go." She whined.

"You gonna try to take your clothes off?" he challenged.

She laughed. "Yes! Its hot!"

He growled. "Then I ain't letting you go."

She whined more, trying to twist away from him weakly before giving up. "Fine. I won't."

He held on a moment longer before nodding firmly. "Good. No more of that. Just fucking deal with the heat."

He let go of her and she instantly went to pull off her clothes and he made to grab her again when she threw her hands up in the air and started laughing riotously.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed through her laughter and he snapped, getting up from the stool to leave her before he went nuts himself. She stopped laughing, attempting to get up and when he heard the movement he turned back towards her.

"Don't get up, ya damn fool. You'll hurt your ankle."

She looked at him firmly. "Then don't leave."

He glared at her and she looked down bashfully. "I'll stop." She said softly.

He squinted at her. "You promise?"

She pouted and he almost walked out but then she nodded. "Yeah, I'll stop. Just stay with me a while longer, least til someone else comes."

He muttered. "Fine. But you try to get naked and I'm dragging Glenn's ass up here to deal with this mess he made."

She pouted at him then. "I'm not a mess…am I?" she asked, sounding sad.

He threw his head back in exasperation. "No. No, you're not a mess…normally. You're just not acting at all like yourself and its throwing me. And you'd be awfully mad at yourself tomorrow if you found out you streaked through the damn prison."

She giggled then. "I'm not trying to streak, Daryl! I'm just hot. And I can't believe you're such a prude. I bet _someone _here wouldn't mind."

His eyes narrowed dangerously then. "Who?"

She giggled helplessly for a moment and shrugged. "I dunno. Someone. I mean, poor Axel was trying for a while but I just couldn't handle that mustache." She giggled again. "Poor thing. He was a nice man."

She looked at his face and grinned cheekily. "Oh I don't got no one in particular in mind. Ain't anyone looking that I noticed anyways. I'm just saying, with all the new folks and all, there's bound to be _someone_ who wouldn't mind." She shrugged and giggled again.

He scoffed. "Woman, if they've got eyes there's likely more than a few."

Her eyes widened slightly and he realized his mistake. Before he could try to backtrack she began giggling uncontrollably, her hands coming back up to her mouth and her body leaning forward into herself.

"Oh shut up." He snapped but he couldn't get mad watching her laugh like that. It had all started out awkward and uncomfortable, gone to annoying, but now it was starting to get a little cute. He sneered at himself for his thoughts.

"Well, ya got a few admirers yourself, Pookie." At her nickname for him, she snorted into laughter again. He just stared at the ceiling until she laughed herself out, rolling back onto the bed.

"My tummy hurts."

He sniggered. "Yeah, all that damn laughing probably busted your diaphragm."

Her eyes got wide and she quickly lifted her shirt and tried to look at herself. He couldn't help looking at her too. His eyes quickly mapped out the pallid skin, marred here and there with old scars and a decidedly vicious looking bruise forming low on her side where she must have hit the stairs before rolling down. He snapped himself back and glared at her.

"Didn't I tell ya not to do that?"

She looked up at him, worry on her face. "But I need to see my diaphragm! What if its busted?"

He groaned. "Stop, Carol. I was just teasin' ya."

She peered up at him for a moment before nodding softly. "Oh. Well I was scared." She smiled then. "Hey Daryl?"

"Yeah, Carol?"

She started giggling and he wiped a tired hand over his face. Just then he heard a knock against the frame of the cell door. He looked back in tired relief.

Beth was standing in the doorway, a bowl of stew in her hands and a smile on her lips. "Hi Daryl, Carol." She greeted warmly.

Carol erupted into giggles behind him and he sighed. "She's all yours. Mind her clothes, she's been trying to lose em for a while." He stood up and started going to leave when his hand was suddenly seized.

He turned in question at the no longer laughing woman sitting up in her cot. "Yeah?"

She pouted up at him for a moment before pushing herself into an almost upright position and leaning towards him.

"You leavin'?"

He smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, woman. Its been a long, interestin' day. I need to go rest."

He tried to pull back but she wouldn't let go of his hand until she'd pulled herself up so her hurt ankle was resting on the bed, her knee bent and her weight on her other leg as she half stood awkwardly.

"Gimme a good night kiss." She demanded childishly, turning her face up at him and puckering her lips.

He stared at her in shock, blinking rapidly for a moment. She continued to pucker up at him and he turned to Beth for help but the teen was trying to cover her giggling. He turned back to Carol to find her pouting at him.

"Come on, Pookie. I need a good night kiss after my fall."

She puckered her lips again and he shook his head before muttering, "Fuck it."

Leaning down he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. It was awkward for a second due to her intense pucker but she soon relaxed her lips and he let the kiss linger for just a moment now that it didn't feel like such a joke. Finally he pulled back, smiled a little at her, nodded once at the wide eyed teenager and walked out as quickly as his dignity would allow.

As he stood at the top of the stairs he could hear Beth giggle and say, "Wow. That was so cute!" Carol's giggles soon followed and then suddenly he heard her say, "You want to know something funny, Beth? Carol, Daryl! Our names _rhyme!"_ Both girl and woman erupted into giggles then and he groaned, shaking his head as he descended the stairs.

'Shoulda let the kid handle it from the start. They're gonna be getting' along great.' He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, the sound of the giggling still trickling down at him. He reached up a hand and touched his lips lightly. A smile quirked the corners of his mouth up. "Eh, maybe it wasn't that bad.' With that thought, he set off down the hallway in search of Glenn's condoms.

That bad or not, that little fucker still had to pay.

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Hope it wasn't too farfetched. Please review!


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